Hotel Room Listening

Leave it to me to travel halfway across the world and spend three days in a motel room, sick. 

This thought ran through my head over and over again as I wondered what exactly was wrong with me.  It doesn't seem like "Deli Belly".  I've been good on drinking and brushing my teeth with only bottled water, so it can't be that.  Perhaps an allergy?

Whatever the cause of the culprit, there is something to be said about being ill when you are out of the country. 

The first lesson learned was a life lesson I continue to work on - letting others take care of me.  I was really at the mercy of our group leaders, our hosts at the local institutions, and the hotel staff, all of whom took great care of me.  College students brought me boiled potatoes.  Hotel staff brought me Sprite.  And I valued the time with Sara Trumm, who kept me company when I got a little stir crazy. 

Another life lesson is that the Lethal Weapon series transcends continental lines.  It appears that US action films are widely watched in India.  As an action fan myself, it was good to see old Rambo movies while curled up with an electrolyte packet.  Even more interesting was reading the closed captioning on the movies.  Certain US swear words were swapped for others, Jesus was always translated as God, and harlot is the preferred term for females who hold the oldest occupation in the world.

There are even Christian TV Evangelists here.  Instead of the Crystal Cathedral with it's big bright cross, images of rivers and blue skies prevailed.  There were many hymns in various Indian languages, but was most powerful was hearing songs I knew in new ways.  It was moving to listen to African American Spirituals sung in Telligu, the language of the state of Hyderabad.  Hearing "Wade in the Water," and "Give Me Jesus" in a language other than my own added a level of complexity to those songs which already evoke a complex set of emotions in my heart. 

While I wouldn't recommend getting sick when you are traveling halfway across the world, there are still opportunities to see a new place in a way you would never expect.  As longs as you have eyes to see and ears to listen, the world will continue to unfold and show you a different way of living.